Redux
by paigeleg
Summary: AU from 2x16. My take on what would have happened if Blaine had been older than Kurt, as originally planned. Blaine is one year older than Kurt, so we meet him in his Senior year, Kurt's age stays the same.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I got highly distracted from NaNoWriMo by how much I really do not like what is going down with the Lima side of things and decided that I really wanted to write something with Blaine being older as he was originally supposed to be. And I am horrible with the updating, but I do promise to update all my other stories and try to get on some sort of schedule thing. (Key word is try).

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee.

Enjoy!

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**What Could Have Been**

**Chapter 1**

Kurt was breathless. He wasn't sure if it was from the kiss or from the way his heart was beating or if his Dalton tie was just a little too tight, but somewhere between "There is a moment" and Blaine's hand cupping his cheek, he stopped breathing.

Then there was the kiss.

The kiss that caused him to short circuit and lose all ability to function. The timing was perfect, a ray of hope after a rather upsetting day. Blaine pulled away now with a little giggle and an adorable blush gracing his cheeks.

"We uh, we should practice." The older boy stated, sounding almost as breathless as Kurt felt.

"I thought we were." Kurt surprised himself, his tone flirty and still completely breathless (seriously, his heart can get to normal beating anytime now). He was staring at Blaine, who in return was staring at him. More accurately he was staring at Kurt's mouth. Which made Kurt want to giggle and flail and basically freak the hell out because that dazed look in Blaine's was because of him. And damn, that felt good.

They continued staring at each other for a few moments, moments in which Kurt was seriously restraining himself from just jumping the boy in front of him and tearing of all his clothes (and where did that come from?) off and just going at it when Blaine jerked his head away and stood up.

"I'll meet you in the music room. For the duet." He muttered, sounding more in control than before. Without sparing another glance at Kurt he walked out of the room.

Kurt sat there, almost in a state of shock.

He knew Blaine was supposed to be bad at romance, but this was just rude. Blaine was the very definition of dapper and more importantly they were supposed to be friends. Best friends. He had grown closer to Blaine then to anyone, more so than Mercedes even. And when he is finally resigning himself to be just friends, when is finally starting to be ok with the fact that he wasn't going to have a fairytale romance with Blaine and that he wasn't going to find any romance in this backwards town but then Blaine had given him this huge romantic speech, talked about how he had been looking for Kurt for ever, snogs the breath out of them, then just leaves?!

Kurt knew there had to be a reason. He put up with a lot during his time with Blaine, from being supportive of that ridiculous Gap attack to having to deal with his disillusions dating Rachel to discovering Blaine doesn't find him sexy to this.

Determined and refusing to jump to conclusions, Kurt packed away his craft kit and tucked Pavortti's newly designed coffin into his bag and headed to the music room.

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A/N Short and sweet for the first chapter. I will work on my other stories tonight and try to get everything updated in the next week.

I will post updates and previews and statuses and such on my new tumblr which is .com if you are interested.

Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Yeah...

But I have been working on the chapters for my other stories but I picked a song to use in the next chapter and IT IS SO GOOD and I was like just gonna push it alllllllllll out. (and by all I mean like the first 3 chapters at least).

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee.

* * *

**What Could Have Been**

**A Klaine and Glee AU**

**Chapter 2**

When Blaine arrived at the music room he was finally able to feel like he could breathe again. He had been so overwhelmed with his realization of his feelings and the general Kurt of it all he hadn't realized what a stupid idea it had been. On the scales on 1 to completely idiotic this was beyond. This was Thad thinking he could steal Blaine's hair gel to try and clone him. This was Trent convincing him that an acapella version of The Thong Song would be good for sectionals.

This was stupid and painful and all the things Blaine was trying to avoid feeling.

All the things he was hoping to spare Kurt from feeling.

It unavoidable now, seeing as he basically just confessed his love for his best friend, shared his first kiss with him, then walked out with an explanation. At least he had given himself some room to breathe. He owed Kurt an explanation, but he certainly could even think about forming words after that kiss.

He sighed and sat down at the piano. The sheet music of the song was already waiting for them, he had made sure everything was ready to go incase they were...late for any reason.

He started to play a little in an attempt to calm his mind before their rehearsal.

"It sounds like a break up song."

Blaine's hands froze. He had been hoping for my time.

"Uh...yeah. Well it is. Getting your heart broken is pretty emotional." Blaine responded, getting up and walking to the other side of the piano.

"I have a feeling I am about to find out just how emotional it can be." Kurt said, meeting him at the piano.

"Kurt...I'm not...breaking your heart isn't what I-"

"But you did. You have, a few times actually. Like, running off with Rachel knowing full well how I feel about you and my history with her. Or giving me a huge speech about how I move you and how you have been looking for me forever then kissing me and running off."

"It was a mistake."

Now that, that was the stupidest thing Blaine has ever done.

Because Blaine knew Kurt so well, better than anyone, better than he knew himself sometimes, he knew the exact instant Kurt put his shields back up. His eyes narrowed just a bit and those gorgeous bright orbs turned into a steely cold color.

"I don't want to sing with you."

"Wh-what?"

"I don't want to sing with you. Take your solo back or get someone else for the duet. I am not going to stand up on a stage in front of all my friends and sing a duet about breaking up with someone with you."

"I can pick a diff-"

"No. Blaine, I would love to be up there and finally get the chance to sing in the competition, but I can't. Not a duet. It would hurt too much."

Blaine was frozen. He just needed to explain why it was a mistake and maybe-

But he couldn't. Every reason he had felt weak and even though he knew exploring something with Kurt would only end in both their hearts broken but nothing sounded good enough.

"I'll talk to the council about turning the first number into a solo again." Kurt nodded at Blaine's words, turning to leave. "But you should still sing it."

Kurt stopped, turning back to Blaine.

"I don't know…"

"You deserve it. And like I said, I know if it's just me singing lead again we won't win."

"What about the council?"

"I'll take care of it. Just pick a song and bring to rehearsal tonight."

Kurt nodded.

There was a pause where Kurt stared at Blaine and Blaine stared at his feet.

"That's it?"

Blaine nodded, refusing to look at Kurt.

"That's it."

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A/N: ok, so in the next chapter we will find out Blaine's reasoning for being an ass. I swear.

Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hi! Thank you to everyone who has been following and favoriting this story! And a big thank to everyone who had left a review so far! I am happy so many of you are enjoying it.

so I decided to change the title. What Could Have Been just didn't feel right.

Anyway, onto the story! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do own Glee.

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**Redux**

**A Klaine AU**

**Chapter 3**

A week had gone by since the heartbreaking conversation with Blaine. Kurt hadn't talked much to him outside of Warbler's rehearsal (and while Kurt was grateful he wasn't singing a duet with Blaine the pressure of a solo was starting to make him nervous) and now here they were at Regionals.

He hadn't told any of the New Directions about his Solo, he had wanted it to be a surprise. A smaller, more secret, part of him also wanted to see the looks on their faces after his mind blowing performance.

HIs ultimate goal for this number was to make sure there wasn't a single dry eye in the audience.

The Warblers were backstage now, waiting their turn to perform. The New Directions were still in the audience, having drawn the third performance slot of the night.

It was still a few moments until they needed to be on stage and Kurt was shaking his hands up and down while bouncing on the balls of his feet in attempt to shake the nerves out.

"Are you nervous?" Blaine's voice questioned from somewhere next to him.

"I've never actually had a competition solo before. I keep having this nightmare about getting up and opening my mouth and nothing comes out, or worse, I puke." He turned to look at Blaine, smiling sheepishly. "Please don't judge me."

Blaine smile only grew and looked at Kurt with pure adoration.

And that was it.

Kurt's nerves melted away only to be replaced with the memory of their conversation, of his first real kiss, and of being called a mistake.

He didn't need to be nervous. The song was perfect. It was everything Kurt was feeling and he was going to poor every emotion he had felt during that moment over Pavoritt's casket and in the music room.

Then it was time.

The boys all gathered on the stage, lining up for their first number. The stage was dark, and you could only barely see the outline of the his fellow choir members around him. The lights grew bright and the low hum of the upper row bass started off. Then lighter hums of the second row, followed by the tenors starting with the words.

"This is the way you left me,

I'm not pretending.

No hope, no love, no glory,

No Happy Ending.

This is the way that we love,

Like it's forever.

Then live the rest of our life,

But not together."

Kurt took a quick breath and chanced a glance at Blaine standing next to him before turning his attention to the audience.

"Wake up in the morning, stumble on my life

Can't get no love without sacrifice

If anything should happen, I guess I wish you well

A little bit of heaven, but a little bit of hell"

Kurt had been right. By the time his song has finished and before Blaine's energetic rendition of Raise Your Glass, of all the faces he could see from the stage not a single one had a dry eye.

After their performances they had settled into the seats of the audience and watched The New Directions perform their original song. Their group number had been a little cheesy, but Rachel's original ballad had Kurt tearing up. He couldn't help but think he really needed to have a one on one girl's night with her seeing as they both poured their broken hearts out tonight for all the world to see.

After every final performance there was always a half hour break where the judges took their time deliberating and allowed everyone a little break.

Kurt had planned on spending that break with his old Glee club, to congratulate ( and be congratulated) and show that despite the outcome there would be no hard feelings.

But, as he was heading for their green room, he saw Blaine coming from the opposite way and knew they couldn't leave things the way they were.

He was his best friend after all.

By now Blaine had spotted him and was making his way shyly over to Kurt.

Kurt met him about halfway, smiling nervously.

"We still have about 20 minutes, and there is a coffee shop next door. Medium drip followed by a heart to heart, my treat?"

Blaine let out that adorable little breathless giggle he always got when he was feeling a mix of nervous and relief.

"Perfect."

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a/n: And here we are, at the end!

Thank you for sticking with this story!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long! Started a new job so things have been a little crazy! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee

* * *

**Redux**

**A Klaine AU**

**Chapter 4**

"NYADA?" Kurt questions, glancing at the envelope Blaine had handed him after they had sat down with their coffees.

"Yeah. It's this school in the heart of New York that is really selective. They only admitted 15 new students this year." Blaine started to explain, his eyes shining with excitement. "I have been dreaming about this school for years. There are these monthly meetings down in Columbus where potential applicants get together and do performances. This year they gathered all of the finalists from Ohio in the Hyatt over in Columbus, and about 10 kids showed up. There were only 50 finalists across the country and Kurt, I got in."

Kurt smiled at him, happy but still confused. He had honestly thought they were going to talk about them.

"My brother is actually moving to New York from L.A. and wants to move in together. Which means I'll be moving up there early to get a job and pick out apartments. He's actually going to be in Ohio for my graduation and wants to roadtrip it up there afterwards." Blaine's statement come off almost pleading.

"So…..you got into the school of your dreams and are leaving to run off to the greatest city in the world to live with your older brother? Sounds like a sitcom."

Blaine let out a little laugh.

"Don't tell Cooper that. He'll want to start filming right away."

Kurt nodded, not paying much attention to what Blaine was actually saying. Dalton's graduation was in 6 weeks which means that Blaine would be running off to New York and Kurt would be-

"Oh."

-600 miles away in Lima.

The two boys were sat and sipped their coffees, neither one them knowing what to say.

"So…." Kurt finally broke the silence, "what exactly did you mean by mistake?" he asked, his voice quiet. "For clarification."

Blaine was quiet for a bit before reaching over and grabbing his hand.

"The first time I saw you, Kurt, my jaw literally dropped. I knew in that first instant you were going to be something special. I, uh...don't actually make the habit of grabbing the hands of strangers and serenading them with Katy Perry. I was actually hoping to ask you out after the number."

"Really?"

"Really. But then we talked and you told me everything that was happening at Mckinley and then Karofsky happened and none of the timing seemed right. I tried to move on, failed, and then it didn't seem like you were interested in me anymore after Rachel's party so it didn't matter anymore. Then you sang that song and all of a sudden it wasn't just a crush anymore. It was everything. Kurt...you were everything.

"Kissing you was a moment of weakness. I had been resolved to just be your friend until these feelings went away but then...you know. It was a -"

"No."

Blaine stopped, blinking in surprise.

"No?"

Kurt released the other boy's hand and sat up straighter in his seat. His shoulders were squared and he had a determined look in his eyes.

"No. It wasn't a mistake. It was ...perfect."

Blaine opened his mouth to protest but Kurt didn't give him a chance.

"I get that nothing is going to come out of this. You are being "noble" and not wanting to start something you feel has a time limit. But do not call our kiss a mistake."

"How did you-I didn't even finish explaining."

Kurt only shrugged.

"You don't need to. We are best friends Blaine. I know you. Probably a little better than you do at sometimes. While I am a little heartbroken about it, long distance is hard, especially for a new relationship."

"Especially for a first relationship."

Kurt nodded in agreement, smiling at Blaine.

"Well, our coffees are cold and if the timing is right, they are just about to announce our victory."

The older boy let out laugh.

"We totally won."

"Totally."

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A/N: Thanks for reading! I am also taking part in the Klaine Advent Calendar Challenge and all of my work will be posted on my tumblr ( .com ) as well as my AO3 account. You can find me there under paigeleg :)

Thank you all for reading! Chapter 5 will be up by next Monday!


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